Severus, Redux: Chapter Sixteen
(In which Atreus makes the acquaintance of Hermione's friends and an awkward lunch is had by all)
Diagon Alley, London, 23 August 1996, 12:16 PM
It always seemed to come back to this. He had promised to play nice-and he hadn’t done a damn thing-yet somehow he always ended up with Potter and a friend or three sticking their wands in his face. He would most likely take the blame this time, too. Never mind that he felt like death and had been entirely engrossed in the IGPA’s Published Master and Grand Master Class Level Dissertations-1995 Vol 2.
"You!" The venomous exclamation jerked him away from the sentence he was picking his way through. The polished holly only a few inches from his face had him dropping the dry, heavy book and pulling his own wand hastily. He stumbled back for a bit more room, swearing softly as his vision blurred slightly and the floor tilted. He only barely kept his balance, and when he pointed his wand back at the boy who had popped out from the nearby aisle, it wavered slightly. Fucking head cold was going to get him killed.
Behind Potter, the red-headed boy laid a hand on his own wand hilt threateningly. Severus prepared himself to cast a Shielding charm-he wasn’t stupid enough to actually hex in public-but in his current condition, he was truthfully uncertain that he would be able to cast anything.
At least Potter would get expelled. Using magic underage outside of school to hex an innocent bystander in front of the many witnesses that were in this shop was certain academic suicide. Not even Dumbledore would be able to save him.
Hermione’s friend or not, it would be one less thing to have to deal with. He had enough on his plate, really, with being dumped in a new time, new allegiances, a girlfriend of all things, and some weird strain of influenza that wouldn’t go away regardless of how many Pepper-Up Potions he’d taken. Maybe if he were lucky, whatever Potter hexed him with would put him out of his misery.
Instead of actually following through on his wand-threat, however, Potter merely glared, and said tightly, "I saw you at Hogwarts, just before school ended. You hexed me in the hall." His wand was steady, pointing neatly between Severus’ eyes, but remained quiescent. Perversely, Severus found himself disappointed. Seeing Potter expelled before class even began would have been a bright spot to his otherwise miserable morning. Unfortunately, Potter was apparently not going to actually participate in his own demise, the arsehole.
Taking his cue from the other boy, Severus lifted the edge of one lip in a sneer and met Potter’s gaze unflinchingly. Like facing off with a hippogriff, it was the only thing to do with a Gryffindor, really. Unfortunately, staring straight at Potter made it impossible to ignore something any longer.
Green eyes.
His eyes were achingly familiar. The almost mirror-image of James Potter that stood before him had eyes that should have never belonged in that face, and Severus felt like he had been kicked in the stomach. He could have nearly stood it if Lily had chosen anyone-anyone-else. Severus’ wand wavered slightly, but visibly, and he saw the red-head’s forehead crease slightly. Fucking fantastic. Now the hippogriffs-er, Gryffindors-would charge or something, he thought irrationally.
Instead, the other boy dropped his hand from his wand hilt and looked uncertain. "Harry," he started, but before he could continue, their stand-off was interrupted as Hermione and another girl suddenly appeared over Potter’s other shoulder.
"Harry! Atreus! Stop it this instant! You both promised." Hermione forcibly shoved her way between Potter and the red-headed boy, and yanked Potter’s wand arm down.
The girl who had been impatiently trying to see around Hermione let out a soft screech and immediately joined Hermione. "Harry, what are you doing? Put that away, we’re in public. You can’t just go pointing that at people! You of all people should know better!" She poked her finger into Potter’s chest forcefully, making him wince slightly. She looked familiar, but Severus couldn’t put his finger on precisely where he had seen her before.
His head swam a little, and he found himself letting out a relieved breath that he wouldn’t have to muster the energy to defend himself. Severus lowered his own wand, and tucked it back into his sleeve. His pride stung a little that he was being saved from what certainly lost battle by a couple of girls; Severus deliberately and literally bit his tongue.
The sense of déjà vu he felt watching the red-headed girl tell off Potter on his behalf actually made him wonder briefly if he was hallucinating the whole stuck-in-a-future-time situation. At any second Potter would decide that the best course of action was to bare Severus’ prick to the world in a humiliating show of dominance again.
It was ironic, really. It felt like life was handing him some sort of epic moment of possible redemption for the way he had screwed everything up the first time, and he really just wanted to go back to bed. Or at least give in to the urgent need to sit down before he fell down. Not in front of Potter, though. He’d be damned if he looked weak in front of Potter.
Madam Pomfrey hadn’t even wanted him to come to Diagon Alley today-when he and his latest Order babysitter had met her at the Leaky Cauldron for her to escort him in gathering school supplies, she had vigorously and loudly protested that he needed to go to the infirmary, or perhaps even St. Mungo's. The same pure, bullheaded stubbornness that kept him standing now had finally talked her into letting him go on this shopping trip, but she had spent the entire time so far with pursed, disapproving lips, and had asked him every ten minutes if he needed to sit down. He hadn’t thought he looked that bad, even if he did feel trampled by a herd of centaurs.
Centaurs. That’s where he had seen the redhead before-in the hospital wing. She had gone to the Ministry with Hermione the night The Arse had died, and had been injured in some way. Hermione had indicated during their conversation that she might have overheard them. Severus gave her a sharp look, searching for any sign of dissimulation.
She seemed completely oblivious to his presence, however. She was still glaring at Potter, who had reluctantly-miracle of miracles-lowered his wand. He kept shifting his attention between her and Hermione, whose hair looked like it was actually bristling with her irritation.
Hermione hadn’t spared a glance in his direction either; no hello, no kiss, no nothing, even after a full month apart. He may not have had a girlfriend before, but he’d seen other classmates pairing off and he was fairly sure he was supposed to have received a more affectionate greeting than he had gotten. Severus scowled at the two girls’ backs, feeling neglected and abused in general.
Grumpily, he eyed the book he’d dropped, and stooped to pick it up, concentrating on not letting the floor tilt again. His treatment, and that of the book, had settled him into a thoroughly foul mood, and at this point he was ready to just stalk off and leave the lot of them for his bed after all.
Almost as if she were trying to raise his ire further, Hermione laid a hand on Potter’s arm, and turned to look at Severus, her eyes slightly pleading. "Why don’t we all just take a moment to breathe, introduce each other properly, and have a civilised lunch together?"
Severus felt his brow quirk cynically in reflex, and Potter actually scowled at Hermione. "No," Potter said firmly, shrugging Hermione’s hand off his crossed arms, bringing those damnable eyes of his back to Severus as if he were trying to punch holes through him with it. "He still hasn’t explained why he would have hexed me at Hogwarts if he supposedly didn’t know me and wasn’t working for Voldemort."
Severus felt his lip curl. "I haven’t explained because I have no idea what you are talking about. I haven’t been to Hogwarts before." Severus lied without compunction, knowing the other boy hadn’t a shred of proof that he had been in the hallway that night. The only two people who could say otherwise were his own older self, and-
"Yes you did! You caught me with a burn hex of some sort right across the thigh. Hermione remembers, she saw me that night, right?" Potter turned to look at Hermione, who was now biting her lip and giving Severus an uneasy look.
"Well… Harry, I saw the burn, but I wasn’t really there when it happened…" She prevaricated, her voice trailing off weakly under Potter’s glare.
"It was him. I know it was." Potter asserted forcefully, swinging his gaze back to Severus challengingly.
"If you like, once we are all in school for the year, you can take the matter up with my uncle. He can attest that I have not been to Hogwarts." Severus feigned a bored look down at his book, idly brushing off non-existent dirt from the cover.
"Snape." Potter scoffed, in exactly the same derisive tone of voice that his father had used at the same age. The red-headed boy nodded in agreement, his own expression scornful.
Severus drew himself up to every inch of height he could claim and looked down his nose at the two of them. "You would doubt the word of one of your professors, Potter? I certainly don’t-so far you are proving just as he claimed: an inept, bumbling hot-head."
"Atreus!" Hermione snapped. "Stop antagonising him!"
Just whose side was she on, anyway? Severus felt his lips curl. He was apparently good enough when locked up under virtual house arrest, but now that she had her Gryffindor friends back, clearly things were different. Just like he had been at Hogwarts, he had the sinking feeling that he was about to become her dirty little secret. He refused to admit to himself how much that actually hurt.
Gripping his book tightly, he was about to turn and leave them all, only to find Mrs. Weasley bearing down on their little group with a tall blonde and another girl that appeared to be their age in tow.
"Ahh! There you all are!" The woman beamed, apparently oblivious to the tension. Severus glanced back over at the others only to find them all with innocent expressions and their wands tucked away, though Potter did shoot him a dark look. Mrs. Weasley bestowed a bright smile on him and continued, "You must be Professor Snape’s nephew, Atreus; I’ve heard so much from Tonks about you, poor dear. Is that who is with you today, or are you with your uncle?"
Severus found himself shaking his head. "Professor Snape arranged for the school nurse to escort me today; he had a prior responsibility."
"You call your uncle ‘Professor?’" The blonde girl interjected, curiosity lighting her brown eyes.
Severus crossed his arms over his chest and pursed his lips. "I have only recently become acquainted with the professor-he and my father were not close. I have been informed not to expect preferential treatment, and that I was not to call him ‘Uncle Severus’ on pain of detention."
The girl tactlessly muttered something along the lines of Professor Snape really being a git to everyone, and above her head, Mrs. Weasley’s mouth tightened in disapproval. Whether it was for the girl’s comment or Severus’ he was not certain, for she immediately tried to steer the conversation back into a safer subject than Atreus’ supposedly recently deceased parents and moody ‘uncle.’
"I see Hermione has already introduced you to Harry, Ron and Ginny. This is Daisy Brown and her daughter Lavender; she’s in Gryffindor too. I’m sure you’ll all be splendid friends! Where is Madam Pomfrey? The two of you must join us for lunch."
Severus thought longingly of his bed, and how he would really rather not spend more time in the company of Potter and Co. Especially since Hermione appeared to be having doubts about being with him in front of her friends. Severus hunched his shoulders, muttering, "I wouldn’t want to disrupt your plans. We still have some stops left, actually, and-"
"Nonsense!" Mrs. Weasley’s hand cut through the air decisively, "You would certainly not be ‘disrupting’ anything; the more the merrier! I know Hermione has been looking forward to seeing you again, as well. Now, just direct me to Madam Pomfrey so I can extend a proper invitation to you both."
Grudgingly, but uncertain what else to do, Severus pointed his chin in the direction of the front counter. "She was having a book ordered in at the desk, last I saw."
Mrs. Weasley and Mrs. Brown trooped off in that direction, leaving the awkward group of teenagers to straggle behind, whole conversations shooting between them in a myriad of frowning glances and false smiles. It was the blonde-Lavender-who finally broke the stilted silence, sidling up to the Weasley boy and looping an arm through his, to his obvious surprise.
She directed a patently false smile at Hermione and asked sweetly, "So you and Atreus are, err, together, then?" Her voice implied doubt as she flicked her gaze over Hermione, and then she glanced at Severus. He felt her assess him and just as quickly dismiss him, before her eyes shot back to Weasley. They fluttered slightly and she continued. "That’s… nice. I’ve always preferred the athletic sort, myself."
Weasley looked rather pleased by this comment and his chest actually puffed out a bit. Rather like a baboon, Severus thought sourly. He was used to getting that sort of dismissal from girls, but found himself grinding his newly-straightened teeth anyway.
He shot a glance at his girlfriend, waiting for her acidic retort defending her own choice over Weasley. Hermione… Hermione appeared to be absolutely furious, but didn’t say anything, nor did she actually confirm that they were together as Lavender put it-she just glared daggers at Weasley. Severus felt his heart sink further into his stomach. Clearly, despite whatever Mrs. Weasley thought, Lavender Brown was not a close friend of Hermione’s at all. Just as clearly, Lavender's interest in Weasley was upsetting.
Severus felt himself grow defensive again. Had Hermione just been playing with him out of boredom? Or possibly using him to make Weasley jealous? He studied the other boy again, and caught a slightly smug look on Lavender’s face from under her lowered lashes. She wasn’t nearly as vapid as she pretended to be, he guessed, and found his hands clenching around his chosen book again as Hermione linked her own arm through his with a challenging look in the other girl’s direction. She was obviously doing it for their benefit, not his, and his feeling of mistreatment grew.
His unease and foul mood had not diminished in the slightest by the time they were all seated about a table at Pelwyn’s Tea House a half-hour later. It hadn’t helped in the slightest that Madam Pomfrey had asked after his health again in front of everybody, and left him with a potion to drink with his meal before taking herself off to the smaller, adjacent table where the three adults had chosen to sit. Honestly, Severus wasn’t certain how much more damage his dignity could take in one afternoon before he flat out begged to be taken back to Number Twelve, or even his boring, much smaller room at Hogwarts.
Lavender continued to flirt obnoxiously with Weasley, who seemed to be lapping up the attention like a puppy. Finally, his sister turned to Severus and asked loudly, "So, what’s your favourite subject, Atreus?"
Hermione gave the red-headed girl-what was her name?-a grateful look as Severus considered the question for a moment. He was excellent at both Potions and Defence, but it was not perhaps in his best interest to say Potions, considering that he was supposed to be a different person than his ‘uncle.’ It was probably better to distance himself a bit to keep the parallels from continuously popping up. Mind made up, he answered firmly, "Defence Against the Dark Arts."
"That’s Harry’s best subject, too," Hermione offered. "And chess. Atreus is really good at chess-wasn’t I saying that you had that in common this morning, Ron?" Severus fought against wincing. Hermione had absolutely no subtlety at all.
Weasley didn't seem to notice. He shrugged and kept his attention on his new flirtation, who responded instead. "Perhaps you’ll be able to help Hermione in Defence, then, Atreus," Lavender shot another false smile across the table, "Defence is her worst subject."
Judging by her white knuckles, Severus would not have been surprised to see Hermione’s fork bend in half under her grip as she replied through gritted teeth, "I do perfectly well in Defence, Lavender."
The blonde waved her own fork about casually and responded blithely, "but you have to admit, you don’t do quite as well there as in your other classes."
"No one is perfect at everything, Hermione, even you." Weasley put in, talking around a mouthful of sandwich.
Lavender beamed at him, and Hermione actually growled low in her throat. She looked ready to shove the fork still clenched in her fist through the other girl’s eye. Entertaining as that might end up being, it probably was a good idea to change the subject. Clearing his throat, Severus ventured, "What’s your best subject, Hermione?"
Her eyes shot to him and she visibly relaxed a little. "I think I like Arithmancy best. Or possibly Ancient Runes."
"Hermione doesn’t really have a best subject," Potter interjected, apparently deciding to join the Calm-Hermione-Down-Cause. "She’s got the top marks in all of them. She’s Hogwarts' resident genius."
Lavender, however, appeared to be like a dog with a bone, and wouldn’t let her point go. "Except Defence, though, yeah? I mean, Hermione is definitely the top student at Hogwarts, that’s uncontested even by the most dedicated Ravenclaw." She shrugged as if embarrassed and said seriously to Severus, "I think she has trouble actually connecting with her magic at a basic level, though; you know-feeling it as a part of herself properly, which is so important for subjects like Defence. That's why she failed Divination-it's all books to her and not enough a part of her. Probably because she's Muggleborn."
Hermione’s mouth fell open in time with Potter’s sharply indrawn breath, and even Weasley looked uncomfortable.
The Weasley girl objected angrily, "Lavender! I cannot believe you just said that! You know we don't hold with that sort of attitude."
Lavender gave the rest of the table a wounded look. "Oh you know I didn't mean it that way-you all know better than anyone I don't have anything against Muggleborns. But before Hogwarts, they do grow up afraid of their magic more often than not, instead of embracing it. They usually try to distance themselves instead of bonding with it properly." She lifted a patronising hand and continued, "It’s not their fault, and it doesn't make them worth less-just not as good at some subjects."
Severus bit back a comment that might have been misconstrued as agreement. Agreeing with the vicious blonde would clearly do him no favours, even if her argument actually did make some sense. How often had he felt that his own classmates didn’t understand Defence or Potions the way he did, simply because they didn’t feel it like he did?
Potter gave Lavender a stiff look and objected, "I grew up in a Muggle household, but Defence is my best subject."
Lavender sipped from her water glass and answered mildly, "Yes, but let's be honest here, you've been pushed to focus and put more effort into that subject than any of the others, and you aren't a natural academic like Hermione to excel without trying in the drier bookish subjects. You're like Ron," she squeezed the arm of the redhead next to her. "More of a… physical sort."
"And yet, Hermione’s Defence mark is still better than yours, Lavender." The Weasley girl retorted.
"It isn’t." Lavender shook her head in denial, and smiled. "Not where it counts. She got and E on her Defence O.W.L., the same as me. Ron told me, right?" The girl actually batted her eyes at Weasley, smiled back at her beatifically.
"The same as I." Severus found himself correcting, irritated in general with the entire table, and ready to set the blonde down a peg. "Hermione at least speaks proper English."
Hermione wasn’t paying attention to him, however. Her gaze still focused on the red-headed idiot across the table. "You told her my O.W.L. scores?"
Weasley shook his head, a panicked look on his face. "We were just talking, Hermione, and everyone’s scores came up."
Severus stood abruptly, unable to force himself to take any more. "Lovely as meeting Hermione’s friends has been," he said sarcastically, "I am not actually feeling particularly well, and will take my leave for now. I’ll see you all when term starts." He squeezed Hermione’s shoulder briefly-until she actually said so, he was going to assert their relationship, she was the bloody Gryffindor, after all. He wasn’t going to let her just take the coward’s way out and ignore him until he left.
Madam Pomfrey took almost no convincing at the other table that he was ill enough to leave early, and in short order Severus found himself Side-along Apparating to the castle grounds and herded back toward the infirmary.
School would resume in just over a week.
A/N: Okay. It has admittedly been a very long time since this story has updated, and for that, I apologize. I swear my excuses are good, though! I've had the standard writers block trouble most of us get from time to time, and a plethora of changes in my life this last year. For those of you who did not realize, I have been pregnant. On top of that, I spent most of my second trimester working about fifty hours a week. My Mormor (maternal grandmother) passed away in September, followed by a series of moves by my grandfather. My baby girl was born in March exactly a week before what would have been Mormor's 86th birthday. Recently my fledgling family has also started looking for our first house. So it's been busy.
On a good note, Stgulik has very generously offered to beta for me at this point-so you will hopefully be seeing a bit more consistency and writing improvement out of me. :-) I cannot thank you all enough for your patience--both in your willingness to wait for my updates and your patience as I am incredibly incredibly far behind in responding to reviews. I cannot promise to always update quickly, but I swear I have not (and will not) abandon this story. Once again, thank you all very much for your well wishes and feedback--I appreciate them more than I can say!
-Tyche
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Diagon Alley, London, 23 August 1996, 12:16 PM
It always seemed to come back to this. He had promised to play nice-and he hadn’t done a damn thing-yet somehow he always ended up with Potter and a friend or three sticking their wands in his face. He would most likely take the blame this time, too. Never mind that he felt like death and had been entirely engrossed in the IGPA’s Published Master and Grand Master Class Level Dissertations-1995 Vol 2.
"You!" The venomous exclamation jerked him away from the sentence he was picking his way through. The polished holly only a few inches from his face had him dropping the dry, heavy book and pulling his own wand hastily. He stumbled back for a bit more room, swearing softly as his vision blurred slightly and the floor tilted. He only barely kept his balance, and when he pointed his wand back at the boy who had popped out from the nearby aisle, it wavered slightly. Fucking head cold was going to get him killed.
Behind Potter, the red-headed boy laid a hand on his own wand hilt threateningly. Severus prepared himself to cast a Shielding charm-he wasn’t stupid enough to actually hex in public-but in his current condition, he was truthfully uncertain that he would be able to cast anything.
At least Potter would get expelled. Using magic underage outside of school to hex an innocent bystander in front of the many witnesses that were in this shop was certain academic suicide. Not even Dumbledore would be able to save him.
Hermione’s friend or not, it would be one less thing to have to deal with. He had enough on his plate, really, with being dumped in a new time, new allegiances, a girlfriend of all things, and some weird strain of influenza that wouldn’t go away regardless of how many Pepper-Up Potions he’d taken. Maybe if he were lucky, whatever Potter hexed him with would put him out of his misery.
Instead of actually following through on his wand-threat, however, Potter merely glared, and said tightly, "I saw you at Hogwarts, just before school ended. You hexed me in the hall." His wand was steady, pointing neatly between Severus’ eyes, but remained quiescent. Perversely, Severus found himself disappointed. Seeing Potter expelled before class even began would have been a bright spot to his otherwise miserable morning. Unfortunately, Potter was apparently not going to actually participate in his own demise, the arsehole.
Taking his cue from the other boy, Severus lifted the edge of one lip in a sneer and met Potter’s gaze unflinchingly. Like facing off with a hippogriff, it was the only thing to do with a Gryffindor, really. Unfortunately, staring straight at Potter made it impossible to ignore something any longer.
Green eyes.
His eyes were achingly familiar. The almost mirror-image of James Potter that stood before him had eyes that should have never belonged in that face, and Severus felt like he had been kicked in the stomach. He could have nearly stood it if Lily had chosen anyone-anyone-else. Severus’ wand wavered slightly, but visibly, and he saw the red-head’s forehead crease slightly. Fucking fantastic. Now the hippogriffs-er, Gryffindors-would charge or something, he thought irrationally.
Instead, the other boy dropped his hand from his wand hilt and looked uncertain. "Harry," he started, but before he could continue, their stand-off was interrupted as Hermione and another girl suddenly appeared over Potter’s other shoulder.
"Harry! Atreus! Stop it this instant! You both promised." Hermione forcibly shoved her way between Potter and the red-headed boy, and yanked Potter’s wand arm down.
The girl who had been impatiently trying to see around Hermione let out a soft screech and immediately joined Hermione. "Harry, what are you doing? Put that away, we’re in public. You can’t just go pointing that at people! You of all people should know better!" She poked her finger into Potter’s chest forcefully, making him wince slightly. She looked familiar, but Severus couldn’t put his finger on precisely where he had seen her before.
His head swam a little, and he found himself letting out a relieved breath that he wouldn’t have to muster the energy to defend himself. Severus lowered his own wand, and tucked it back into his sleeve. His pride stung a little that he was being saved from what certainly lost battle by a couple of girls; Severus deliberately and literally bit his tongue.
The sense of déjà vu he felt watching the red-headed girl tell off Potter on his behalf actually made him wonder briefly if he was hallucinating the whole stuck-in-a-future-time situation. At any second Potter would decide that the best course of action was to bare Severus’ prick to the world in a humiliating show of dominance again.
It was ironic, really. It felt like life was handing him some sort of epic moment of possible redemption for the way he had screwed everything up the first time, and he really just wanted to go back to bed. Or at least give in to the urgent need to sit down before he fell down. Not in front of Potter, though. He’d be damned if he looked weak in front of Potter.
Madam Pomfrey hadn’t even wanted him to come to Diagon Alley today-when he and his latest Order babysitter had met her at the Leaky Cauldron for her to escort him in gathering school supplies, she had vigorously and loudly protested that he needed to go to the infirmary, or perhaps even St. Mungo's. The same pure, bullheaded stubbornness that kept him standing now had finally talked her into letting him go on this shopping trip, but she had spent the entire time so far with pursed, disapproving lips, and had asked him every ten minutes if he needed to sit down. He hadn’t thought he looked that bad, even if he did feel trampled by a herd of centaurs.
Centaurs. That’s where he had seen the redhead before-in the hospital wing. She had gone to the Ministry with Hermione the night The Arse had died, and had been injured in some way. Hermione had indicated during their conversation that she might have overheard them. Severus gave her a sharp look, searching for any sign of dissimulation.
She seemed completely oblivious to his presence, however. She was still glaring at Potter, who had reluctantly-miracle of miracles-lowered his wand. He kept shifting his attention between her and Hermione, whose hair looked like it was actually bristling with her irritation.
Hermione hadn’t spared a glance in his direction either; no hello, no kiss, no nothing, even after a full month apart. He may not have had a girlfriend before, but he’d seen other classmates pairing off and he was fairly sure he was supposed to have received a more affectionate greeting than he had gotten. Severus scowled at the two girls’ backs, feeling neglected and abused in general.
Grumpily, he eyed the book he’d dropped, and stooped to pick it up, concentrating on not letting the floor tilt again. His treatment, and that of the book, had settled him into a thoroughly foul mood, and at this point he was ready to just stalk off and leave the lot of them for his bed after all.
Almost as if she were trying to raise his ire further, Hermione laid a hand on Potter’s arm, and turned to look at Severus, her eyes slightly pleading. "Why don’t we all just take a moment to breathe, introduce each other properly, and have a civilised lunch together?"
Severus felt his brow quirk cynically in reflex, and Potter actually scowled at Hermione. "No," Potter said firmly, shrugging Hermione’s hand off his crossed arms, bringing those damnable eyes of his back to Severus as if he were trying to punch holes through him with it. "He still hasn’t explained why he would have hexed me at Hogwarts if he supposedly didn’t know me and wasn’t working for Voldemort."
Severus felt his lip curl. "I haven’t explained because I have no idea what you are talking about. I haven’t been to Hogwarts before." Severus lied without compunction, knowing the other boy hadn’t a shred of proof that he had been in the hallway that night. The only two people who could say otherwise were his own older self, and-
"Yes you did! You caught me with a burn hex of some sort right across the thigh. Hermione remembers, she saw me that night, right?" Potter turned to look at Hermione, who was now biting her lip and giving Severus an uneasy look.
"Well… Harry, I saw the burn, but I wasn’t really there when it happened…" She prevaricated, her voice trailing off weakly under Potter’s glare.
"It was him. I know it was." Potter asserted forcefully, swinging his gaze back to Severus challengingly.
"If you like, once we are all in school for the year, you can take the matter up with my uncle. He can attest that I have not been to Hogwarts." Severus feigned a bored look down at his book, idly brushing off non-existent dirt from the cover.
"Snape." Potter scoffed, in exactly the same derisive tone of voice that his father had used at the same age. The red-headed boy nodded in agreement, his own expression scornful.
Severus drew himself up to every inch of height he could claim and looked down his nose at the two of them. "You would doubt the word of one of your professors, Potter? I certainly don’t-so far you are proving just as he claimed: an inept, bumbling hot-head."
"Atreus!" Hermione snapped. "Stop antagonising him!"
Just whose side was she on, anyway? Severus felt his lips curl. He was apparently good enough when locked up under virtual house arrest, but now that she had her Gryffindor friends back, clearly things were different. Just like he had been at Hogwarts, he had the sinking feeling that he was about to become her dirty little secret. He refused to admit to himself how much that actually hurt.
Gripping his book tightly, he was about to turn and leave them all, only to find Mrs. Weasley bearing down on their little group with a tall blonde and another girl that appeared to be their age in tow.
"Ahh! There you all are!" The woman beamed, apparently oblivious to the tension. Severus glanced back over at the others only to find them all with innocent expressions and their wands tucked away, though Potter did shoot him a dark look. Mrs. Weasley bestowed a bright smile on him and continued, "You must be Professor Snape’s nephew, Atreus; I’ve heard so much from Tonks about you, poor dear. Is that who is with you today, or are you with your uncle?"
Severus found himself shaking his head. "Professor Snape arranged for the school nurse to escort me today; he had a prior responsibility."
"You call your uncle ‘Professor?’" The blonde girl interjected, curiosity lighting her brown eyes.
Severus crossed his arms over his chest and pursed his lips. "I have only recently become acquainted with the professor-he and my father were not close. I have been informed not to expect preferential treatment, and that I was not to call him ‘Uncle Severus’ on pain of detention."
The girl tactlessly muttered something along the lines of Professor Snape really being a git to everyone, and above her head, Mrs. Weasley’s mouth tightened in disapproval. Whether it was for the girl’s comment or Severus’ he was not certain, for she immediately tried to steer the conversation back into a safer subject than Atreus’ supposedly recently deceased parents and moody ‘uncle.’
"I see Hermione has already introduced you to Harry, Ron and Ginny. This is Daisy Brown and her daughter Lavender; she’s in Gryffindor too. I’m sure you’ll all be splendid friends! Where is Madam Pomfrey? The two of you must join us for lunch."
Severus thought longingly of his bed, and how he would really rather not spend more time in the company of Potter and Co. Especially since Hermione appeared to be having doubts about being with him in front of her friends. Severus hunched his shoulders, muttering, "I wouldn’t want to disrupt your plans. We still have some stops left, actually, and-"
"Nonsense!" Mrs. Weasley’s hand cut through the air decisively, "You would certainly not be ‘disrupting’ anything; the more the merrier! I know Hermione has been looking forward to seeing you again, as well. Now, just direct me to Madam Pomfrey so I can extend a proper invitation to you both."
Grudgingly, but uncertain what else to do, Severus pointed his chin in the direction of the front counter. "She was having a book ordered in at the desk, last I saw."
Mrs. Weasley and Mrs. Brown trooped off in that direction, leaving the awkward group of teenagers to straggle behind, whole conversations shooting between them in a myriad of frowning glances and false smiles. It was the blonde-Lavender-who finally broke the stilted silence, sidling up to the Weasley boy and looping an arm through his, to his obvious surprise.
She directed a patently false smile at Hermione and asked sweetly, "So you and Atreus are, err, together, then?" Her voice implied doubt as she flicked her gaze over Hermione, and then she glanced at Severus. He felt her assess him and just as quickly dismiss him, before her eyes shot back to Weasley. They fluttered slightly and she continued. "That’s… nice. I’ve always preferred the athletic sort, myself."
Weasley looked rather pleased by this comment and his chest actually puffed out a bit. Rather like a baboon, Severus thought sourly. He was used to getting that sort of dismissal from girls, but found himself grinding his newly-straightened teeth anyway.
He shot a glance at his girlfriend, waiting for her acidic retort defending her own choice over Weasley. Hermione… Hermione appeared to be absolutely furious, but didn’t say anything, nor did she actually confirm that they were together as Lavender put it-she just glared daggers at Weasley. Severus felt his heart sink further into his stomach. Clearly, despite whatever Mrs. Weasley thought, Lavender Brown was not a close friend of Hermione’s at all. Just as clearly, Lavender's interest in Weasley was upsetting.
Severus felt himself grow defensive again. Had Hermione just been playing with him out of boredom? Or possibly using him to make Weasley jealous? He studied the other boy again, and caught a slightly smug look on Lavender’s face from under her lowered lashes. She wasn’t nearly as vapid as she pretended to be, he guessed, and found his hands clenching around his chosen book again as Hermione linked her own arm through his with a challenging look in the other girl’s direction. She was obviously doing it for their benefit, not his, and his feeling of mistreatment grew.
His unease and foul mood had not diminished in the slightest by the time they were all seated about a table at Pelwyn’s Tea House a half-hour later. It hadn’t helped in the slightest that Madam Pomfrey had asked after his health again in front of everybody, and left him with a potion to drink with his meal before taking herself off to the smaller, adjacent table where the three adults had chosen to sit. Honestly, Severus wasn’t certain how much more damage his dignity could take in one afternoon before he flat out begged to be taken back to Number Twelve, or even his boring, much smaller room at Hogwarts.
Lavender continued to flirt obnoxiously with Weasley, who seemed to be lapping up the attention like a puppy. Finally, his sister turned to Severus and asked loudly, "So, what’s your favourite subject, Atreus?"
Hermione gave the red-headed girl-what was her name?-a grateful look as Severus considered the question for a moment. He was excellent at both Potions and Defence, but it was not perhaps in his best interest to say Potions, considering that he was supposed to be a different person than his ‘uncle.’ It was probably better to distance himself a bit to keep the parallels from continuously popping up. Mind made up, he answered firmly, "Defence Against the Dark Arts."
"That’s Harry’s best subject, too," Hermione offered. "And chess. Atreus is really good at chess-wasn’t I saying that you had that in common this morning, Ron?" Severus fought against wincing. Hermione had absolutely no subtlety at all.
Weasley didn't seem to notice. He shrugged and kept his attention on his new flirtation, who responded instead. "Perhaps you’ll be able to help Hermione in Defence, then, Atreus," Lavender shot another false smile across the table, "Defence is her worst subject."
Judging by her white knuckles, Severus would not have been surprised to see Hermione’s fork bend in half under her grip as she replied through gritted teeth, "I do perfectly well in Defence, Lavender."
The blonde waved her own fork about casually and responded blithely, "but you have to admit, you don’t do quite as well there as in your other classes."
"No one is perfect at everything, Hermione, even you." Weasley put in, talking around a mouthful of sandwich.
Lavender beamed at him, and Hermione actually growled low in her throat. She looked ready to shove the fork still clenched in her fist through the other girl’s eye. Entertaining as that might end up being, it probably was a good idea to change the subject. Clearing his throat, Severus ventured, "What’s your best subject, Hermione?"
Her eyes shot to him and she visibly relaxed a little. "I think I like Arithmancy best. Or possibly Ancient Runes."
"Hermione doesn’t really have a best subject," Potter interjected, apparently deciding to join the Calm-Hermione-Down-Cause. "She’s got the top marks in all of them. She’s Hogwarts' resident genius."
Lavender, however, appeared to be like a dog with a bone, and wouldn’t let her point go. "Except Defence, though, yeah? I mean, Hermione is definitely the top student at Hogwarts, that’s uncontested even by the most dedicated Ravenclaw." She shrugged as if embarrassed and said seriously to Severus, "I think she has trouble actually connecting with her magic at a basic level, though; you know-feeling it as a part of herself properly, which is so important for subjects like Defence. That's why she failed Divination-it's all books to her and not enough a part of her. Probably because she's Muggleborn."
Hermione’s mouth fell open in time with Potter’s sharply indrawn breath, and even Weasley looked uncomfortable.
The Weasley girl objected angrily, "Lavender! I cannot believe you just said that! You know we don't hold with that sort of attitude."
Lavender gave the rest of the table a wounded look. "Oh you know I didn't mean it that way-you all know better than anyone I don't have anything against Muggleborns. But before Hogwarts, they do grow up afraid of their magic more often than not, instead of embracing it. They usually try to distance themselves instead of bonding with it properly." She lifted a patronising hand and continued, "It’s not their fault, and it doesn't make them worth less-just not as good at some subjects."
Severus bit back a comment that might have been misconstrued as agreement. Agreeing with the vicious blonde would clearly do him no favours, even if her argument actually did make some sense. How often had he felt that his own classmates didn’t understand Defence or Potions the way he did, simply because they didn’t feel it like he did?
Potter gave Lavender a stiff look and objected, "I grew up in a Muggle household, but Defence is my best subject."
Lavender sipped from her water glass and answered mildly, "Yes, but let's be honest here, you've been pushed to focus and put more effort into that subject than any of the others, and you aren't a natural academic like Hermione to excel without trying in the drier bookish subjects. You're like Ron," she squeezed the arm of the redhead next to her. "More of a… physical sort."
"And yet, Hermione’s Defence mark is still better than yours, Lavender." The Weasley girl retorted.
"It isn’t." Lavender shook her head in denial, and smiled. "Not where it counts. She got and E on her Defence O.W.L., the same as me. Ron told me, right?" The girl actually batted her eyes at Weasley, smiled back at her beatifically.
"The same as I." Severus found himself correcting, irritated in general with the entire table, and ready to set the blonde down a peg. "Hermione at least speaks proper English."
Hermione wasn’t paying attention to him, however. Her gaze still focused on the red-headed idiot across the table. "You told her my O.W.L. scores?"
Weasley shook his head, a panicked look on his face. "We were just talking, Hermione, and everyone’s scores came up."
Severus stood abruptly, unable to force himself to take any more. "Lovely as meeting Hermione’s friends has been," he said sarcastically, "I am not actually feeling particularly well, and will take my leave for now. I’ll see you all when term starts." He squeezed Hermione’s shoulder briefly-until she actually said so, he was going to assert their relationship, she was the bloody Gryffindor, after all. He wasn’t going to let her just take the coward’s way out and ignore him until he left.
Madam Pomfrey took almost no convincing at the other table that he was ill enough to leave early, and in short order Severus found himself Side-along Apparating to the castle grounds and herded back toward the infirmary.
School would resume in just over a week.
A/N: Okay. It has admittedly been a very long time since this story has updated, and for that, I apologize. I swear my excuses are good, though! I've had the standard writers block trouble most of us get from time to time, and a plethora of changes in my life this last year. For those of you who did not realize, I have been pregnant. On top of that, I spent most of my second trimester working about fifty hours a week. My Mormor (maternal grandmother) passed away in September, followed by a series of moves by my grandfather. My baby girl was born in March exactly a week before what would have been Mormor's 86th birthday. Recently my fledgling family has also started looking for our first house. So it's been busy.
On a good note, Stgulik has very generously offered to beta for me at this point-so you will hopefully be seeing a bit more consistency and writing improvement out of me. :-) I cannot thank you all enough for your patience--both in your willingness to wait for my updates and your patience as I am incredibly incredibly far behind in responding to reviews. I cannot promise to always update quickly, but I swear I have not (and will not) abandon this story. Once again, thank you all very much for your well wishes and feedback--I appreciate them more than I can say!
-Tyche
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